Leaving Yourself Vulnerable
by KristineNote
Summary: Not a oneshot anymore! Set during episode "Queen Bee" aka the High School Reunion episode. Fluff. Bones says all the things she couldn't say when Booth confessed. Bones/Booth.
1. Not a Gamble

**Note:** This is set during the episode "Queen Bee" which is the high school reunion episode. May be considered AU and OOC. Total fluff. Just me venting on the episode before Queen Bee, you know, the flashback one. Any reviews would make me grateful!

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**Leaving Yourself Vulnerable**

Booth closed the laptop that connected him to Sweets and sighed. The motel wasn't _that_ bad. He'd been in worse. A knock at the door pulls him out of his nostalgia. Another knock, this one lighter. He realized it was coming from the door that connected their rooms together. Booth opened it swiftly and Brenann stood there, wearing her bathrobe. The red silky one that always looked expensive and elegant.

"Can we talk?" Bones asked.

"Sure," Booth replied and stepped aside to let her in his room. "Have a seat," Booth said when he noticed Bones was shifting her weight nervously, just standing there.

Bones nodded and muttered a thank you and sat down on the bed. Her eyes drifted to the Magic Fingers box while Booth sat on the slightly uncomfortable chair against the wall, about a yard away from the bed.

"What's wrong?" Booth sounded concerned. Making it so much harder for her. "Bones?" Booth prodded when she didn't answer immediately, like she would usually do.

"I love you, Booth. More than I've ever loved anyone."

Booth blinked once. Twice. Then he swallowed.

"When I thought you were dead, the pain I felt was... I tried to rationalize it but all I felt was pain."

Guilt flooded Booth. Anger towards the young doctor Sweets at the back of his mind, tugged, but he forced it away. Sweets didn't mean to cause harm.

"If we tried... I want you to know, I would be** all in**, Booth. All in."

Booth reached out and put a hand on her knee when tears started to well up in her eyes. He wanted to say so many things but he knew she wasn't finished; there was more she needed to say.

"I'm afraid. If I lost you again..." Her shoulders shook and Booth jumped out of his seat and sat next to her on the bed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his chest.

They stayed like that for a few minutes before Bones regained some of her composure. "If you still want to. Make sure you know exactly what you want from me._ Sweets was right_," her tone indicated that she never wanted Sweets to know she said that, "I hide behind my ability to rationalize everything so I can distance myself from people."

Booth ran his hand down her back in acknowledgment; saying he already knew.

Bones pressed her head closer against his chest and she wasn't sure who's heartbeat she was hearing. "I don't want to distance myself from you."

The unspoken words of her insecurities rang through out her confession. She was afraid of getting hurt, of losing him, of him not liking what he saw once they started a romantic relationship, of opening herself up completely to him. Because she had never done that since her parents abandoned her. She had never loved anyone as much as she loved him and that scared her.

Booth understood all of this. It was more than just his 'gut instinct' that allowed him to read her. It was because they were... He didn't know the word for it. 'Close' didn't seem good enough.

"I love you, Bones," Booth said. "I would never abandon you. I know now that it wouldn't be a gamble. There's no way we would loose. One hundred and ten percent sure thing win."

"There's no such thing as a hundred and ten percent. Just a hundred percent." Bones said, finally moving up and looking him in the eyes. He was about to smile at her usual come back when he saw the vulnerability in her eyes.

Booth cupped her face in his hands and pulled her up while simultaneously leaning down. Temperance closed her eyes slowly, tears starting to roll down her face, just as his lips crashed onto her's. The kiss started soft, then they breathed, enough time for Booth to nibble on Temperance's lower lip. A small moan of pleasure came from her and he pressed forward, bringing the kiss into a heated, demanding kiss. Emotions clashed, tongues fought for dominance. Temperance grabbed his collar and held him in place as they kissed.

And just as suddenly, Doctor Brenann pulled away. Booth understood immediately. "I'm all in, too. I love you, Bones."

Brenann smiled, the kind of smile that she only had around Booth. They kissed again, this one much more heated than before. Niceties thrown aside.

Booth lowered Brenann onto the bed, pulling her up so they were lying on it, him on top of her, noses touching. "Wait," Brenann's voice stopped Booth right in his tracks. He looked up at her, concerned. "If we were to have sex right now, it would be more than _just_ sex, wouldn't it? It would be making love. I've never done that before."

Brenann didn't understand why Booth was smiling at her. Sometimes she really didn't understand the man she loved.


	2. A Secret

**Note:** I continued it! But I think it's better as a oneshot.

**Leaving Yourself Vulnerable**

"I still don't know how," Brennan's voice broke Booth out of his near slumber.

"Huh? Don't know what?" Booth grumbled, voice muffled by the pillow he was currently drooling on.

"How to change. I don't," her voice broke, "I'm not like you. I'm not loving or kind or," she paused, "just good."

Sensing this was serious, Booth propped himself up on his elbow and looked at her. Tears were building up in her eyes and her lips trembled. Her eyes were focused somewhere on the cheap motel wall. "I love you, Bones. The way you are. And you are kind and loving and just _good_." She shook her head, her hands now covering her face, wipping away those tears which had threatened to fall. "Not conventional. And I think," he paused to run his hand over her head, fingers moving through her hair, "you still have some growing to do. As a person. I want to be with you as you grow." She removed her hands, now looking at him, directly in the eye. "For me, you are just good."

"How can you know?" He taps his chest, right over his heart and she gets the message and she understands, however illogical it is. She smiles and snuggles against his chest. "I love you Booth."

"I love you too, Bones," Booth whispered back holding her close.

Morning came with blaring sunlight. As the new found couple headed towards the school, Booth realized something.

"We're monogamous," Booth declared.

"Okay," Brennan replied casually.

"Really?" Booth asked, initially expecting an argument.

"You're all I need, Booth," Brennan said, just as casually as before. Booth smiled to himself. "Should I call you Seeley? When we're alone?" She turned away from the car side window and looked at him expectantly.

"If you want to," Booth replied, now confused.

"Because we're lovers now I think it would be appropriate to call you by your first name. In private. Because they may get the right idea if I call you that in front of them."

"So definitely not telling anyone?" Booth asked.

"I suppose we could tell Angela and Hodgins; they can keep secrets." Brennan speculated. "But if I become accustomed to calling you by your first name, it may slip. I like calling you Booth anyway."

"My surname it is. If we tell them, won't the others catch on?" Booth pulled into the school.

"Doctor Saroyan is very perceptive." Brennan nodded her agreement. "But I don't want to keep secrets from Angela. And I don't want to stop working with you."

"And if we tell Angela, she won't be able to keep secrets from Hodgins. Yeah, I think both of them can keep our secret," Booth conceded, turning off the car.

"Is there anyone you want to tell? Jared?"

'_I want to tell everyone_,' Booth quickly silenced that thought. "Jared, when the time comes. My grandfather."

"I think we can keep this secret."


	3. Being Open with a Good Friend

Thank you for the reviews, alerts, and favorites! It means so much to me. And thank you for over 2k views! Next chapter's length should make up for this very short one.

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**Leaving Yourself Vulnerable**

"What's up, sweetie?" Angela asked, tucked away in a dark corner of The Founding Fathers Bar with her best friend.

"I have something to tell you. And you have to promise not to tell anyone else." Brennan said seriously. Angela raised both her eyebrows and nodded.

"I promise, whatever it is. My lips are sealed." Angela said, taking Brennan's hand and squeezing.

"You can tell Hodgins if you want. I'm sure he can keep a secret. Unless you don't want to. I mean the only person I care that knows is you." Brennan began to ramble but stopped at Angela's concerned look. "Booth and I are romantically together now."

Angela's arms wrapped around Brennan so quickly her eyes didn't register that movements. "Oh my God! How? When?"

"Last week he asked me. Two nights ago I asked him. Now we're together. If anyone where to find out, we couldn't work together anymore." Brennan explained it as if it was a math problem.

"Secret's safe with me. But what about Sweets? He's a perceptive little guy." Angela said.

Brennan snorted at the thought. "It would be bad if he found out. But he thought we already had sex before this and-"

"You had sex with him? When? Was it...?" Angela cut Brennan off with an excited whisper.

"Two nights in a row. It's different. I feel loved when I'm with him." Brennan smiled, a small smile that Angela had only seen a few times.

"Aw, sweetie," Angela hugged Brennan again. Once she released her, an idea struck her. "You know there's a way around this secret."

"What?" Brennan asked, truly surprised.

"Get married. Married couples can work together and have an open relationship." Angela explained. "Though I'm not one to talk about marriage..."

"You're right, you're not," Brennan agreed. Angela gave a tight lipped smile. "I don't think I would make a good wife. Or a good girlfriend."

"You would make a great wife and you are a good girlfriend. As long as you just date Booth." Angela said, remembering the multiple times Brennan dated multiple partners.

"We decided on a monogamous relationship," Brennan said casually. "I'm really happy, Angela. I had to tell you."

Angela grinned and pulled Brennan in for another hug, squealing as she did so. "What's going on?" Sweets asked, stopping in his tracks on his way to the bathroom.

"Book sales," Angela said quickly. Brennan nodded. Looking rather confused, Sweets shrugged before continuing on his way, now in a rush to get to the restroom.


End file.
